Details

Release year: 1958

Storyline

Jim Burton turns to alcohol after his daughter dies. His wife supports them while a doctor warns of mental illness risks. Seeking recovery, Jim meets alcoholic William Tobin and discovers that helping others strengthens his sobriety.

Top credits

Directors

Harry Keller

Writers

Lawrence B. Marcus

Cast

Richard Egan — Jim Burton
Julie London — Ellen Burton
Walter Matthau — Dr. Leon Karnes
Troy Donahue — Paul Cunningham

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Did you know

• At about the 36-to-38-minute mark Harry Dean Stanton has a bit part as a hysterical mental patient.

• Both Richard Egan and Troy Donahue also appeared in A Summer Place (1959).

• The framed quote on the wall at the end of the film is known as the "Serenity Prayer," a more concise variation of an original invocation by Reinhold Niebuhr, a theologian in the 1930s. It is often recited at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as part of the recovery process for those in AA's program. The final scene in the film parallels the beginning portion of a typical AA meeting where the speaker states his/her name (first name only), admits to being an alcoholic, and then recounts the story of life events, trials and tribulations leading to the road to recovery via AA.